Delbert H. Driggs

Delbert H Driggs, 93, an early resident of Moses Lake, died of natural causes, Monday, May 16, 2011, in Samaritan Hospital at Moses Lake, Washington. His father, Samuel, also died on May 16th in the Moses Lake hospital in 1950. Born January 20, 1918 in Burley, Idaho to Samuel Driggs and Lottie Irene Clink, he married Leah Nadine Grimshaw of Goble, Oregon on July 7, 1936 at Vancouver, Washington. He is survived by his wife Nadine Driggs of Moses Lake, seven weeks short of their 75th wedding anniversary; daughter Bonnie Jean Driggs Lafrenz and her husband Jim of Post Falls, Idaho; son Samuel Raymond Driggs and his wife LaRee Hull of Austin, Texas; daughter Cheryl Kay Driggs Elkins of Moses Lake; 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great grandchildren; sisters Mary Irene Driggs Leberis and her husband Louis of Citrus Heights, California and Betty Jean Driggs Parkinson and her husband Gene of Lincoln, California. He was preceded in death by his parents, daughter Janice Lee Driggs and his brothers Samuel Forbes Driggs, Percy Ralph Driggs and Harvey William Driggs. Since their marriage, he and Nadine lived most of their lives in Moses Lake. Other places they have called home include Finley, Mason City (now Grand Coulee), Mae Valley and Yakima, WA; Portland, OR; Clear, AK; Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands; Bangkok, Thailand and Saigon, Vietnam where they were living during the January 31, 1968 Tet Offensive of the Vietnam war. During his retirement, he and Nadine were “snowbirds” and spent many a winter in Yuma, AZ. He and Nadine arrived in Neppel (now Moses Lake) in 1936, which was just a wide spot in the road. During the Depression he worked for nearly three years on the Grand Coulee Dam. In the early 1940’s he planted potatoes and other crops. The term Potato Hill Road originated because the Driggs family raised potatoes in the general area where Frank’s Market is now, irrigating the field with water pumped from Moses Lake through wooden pipes. Delbert was a veteran of WW II having entered into the Army in February 1945 and served in the Philippines as a radio operator. In addition to farming and military service, he was a police officer on the Portland, Oregon, Yakima and Moses Lake, Washington police departments and served as a Grant County deputy sheriff, where he was a charter member of the Grant County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. He was a security guard for Boeing; a Supervisor of Fire and Safety during the construction of the Alaska pipeline; and Assistant Fire Chief in the Marshall Islands. In the late 1960’s he was Superintendent of Fire Prevention and Protection for all the U.S. military fire stations in South Vietnam with the main fire station and his office at Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon. A memorial service is planned in July.

Delbert H. Driggs

January 20, 1918 - May 16, 2011